Kinematics of chisel-tooth digging by African mole-rats
Mole-rats are known to use their protruding, chisel-like incisors to dig underground networks of tunnels, but it remains unknown how these incisors are used to break and displace the soil. Theoretically, different excavation strategies can be used. Mole-rats could either use their head depressor mus...
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ftunivgent:oai:archive.ugent.be:8542993 2023-06-11T04:16:15+02:00 Kinematics of chisel-tooth digging by African mole-rats Van Wassenbergh, Sam Heindryckx, Stef Adriaens, Dominique 2017 application/pdf https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8542993 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8542993 https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.164061 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8542993/file/8542994 eng eng https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8542993 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8542993 http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.164061 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8542993/file/8542994 No license (in copyright) info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY ISSN: 0022-0949 ISSN: 1477-9145 Biology and Life Sciences Rodentia Bathyergidae Teeth Incisors Biomechanics COMPARATIVE FUNCTIONAL-MORPHOLOGY RODENTS TACHYORYCTES-SPLENDENS HETEROCEPHALUS-GLABER CRYPTOMYS-DAMARENSIS RATTUS-RATTUS HEAD MUSCLES PATTERNS EVOLUTION MOVEMENT journalArticle info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2017 ftunivgent https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.164061 2023-05-10T22:41:43Z Mole-rats are known to use their protruding, chisel-like incisors to dig underground networks of tunnels, but it remains unknown how these incisors are used to break and displace the soil. Theoretically, different excavation strategies can be used. Mole-rats could either use their head depressor muscles to power scooping motions of the upper incisors (by nose-down head rotations) or the lower incisors (by nose-up head rotations), or their jaw adductors to grab and break the soil after penetrating both sets of incisors into the ground, or a combination of these mechanisms. To identify how chisel-tooth digging works, a kinematic analysis of this behaviour was performed based on high-speed videos of 19 individuals from the African molerat species Fukomys micklemi placed inside transparent tubes in a laboratory setting. Our analysis showed that the soil is penetrated by both the upper and lower incisors at a relatively high gape angle, generally with the head rotated nose-up. Initially, the upper incisors remain approximately stationary to function as an anchor to allow an upward movement of the lower incisors to grab the soil. Next, a quick, nose-down rotation of the head further detaches the soil and drops the soil below the head. Consequently, both jaw adduction and head depression are jointly used to power tooth-digging in F. micklemi. The same mechanism, but with longer digging cycles, and soil being thrown down at smaller gape sizes, was used when digging in harder soil. Article in Journal/Newspaper Rattus rattus Ghent University Academic Bibliography Journal of Experimental Biology |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Ghent University Academic Bibliography |
op_collection_id |
ftunivgent |
language |
English |
topic |
Biology and Life Sciences Rodentia Bathyergidae Teeth Incisors Biomechanics COMPARATIVE FUNCTIONAL-MORPHOLOGY RODENTS TACHYORYCTES-SPLENDENS HETEROCEPHALUS-GLABER CRYPTOMYS-DAMARENSIS RATTUS-RATTUS HEAD MUSCLES PATTERNS EVOLUTION MOVEMENT |
spellingShingle |
Biology and Life Sciences Rodentia Bathyergidae Teeth Incisors Biomechanics COMPARATIVE FUNCTIONAL-MORPHOLOGY RODENTS TACHYORYCTES-SPLENDENS HETEROCEPHALUS-GLABER CRYPTOMYS-DAMARENSIS RATTUS-RATTUS HEAD MUSCLES PATTERNS EVOLUTION MOVEMENT Van Wassenbergh, Sam Heindryckx, Stef Adriaens, Dominique Kinematics of chisel-tooth digging by African mole-rats |
topic_facet |
Biology and Life Sciences Rodentia Bathyergidae Teeth Incisors Biomechanics COMPARATIVE FUNCTIONAL-MORPHOLOGY RODENTS TACHYORYCTES-SPLENDENS HETEROCEPHALUS-GLABER CRYPTOMYS-DAMARENSIS RATTUS-RATTUS HEAD MUSCLES PATTERNS EVOLUTION MOVEMENT |
description |
Mole-rats are known to use their protruding, chisel-like incisors to dig underground networks of tunnels, but it remains unknown how these incisors are used to break and displace the soil. Theoretically, different excavation strategies can be used. Mole-rats could either use their head depressor muscles to power scooping motions of the upper incisors (by nose-down head rotations) or the lower incisors (by nose-up head rotations), or their jaw adductors to grab and break the soil after penetrating both sets of incisors into the ground, or a combination of these mechanisms. To identify how chisel-tooth digging works, a kinematic analysis of this behaviour was performed based on high-speed videos of 19 individuals from the African molerat species Fukomys micklemi placed inside transparent tubes in a laboratory setting. Our analysis showed that the soil is penetrated by both the upper and lower incisors at a relatively high gape angle, generally with the head rotated nose-up. Initially, the upper incisors remain approximately stationary to function as an anchor to allow an upward movement of the lower incisors to grab the soil. Next, a quick, nose-down rotation of the head further detaches the soil and drops the soil below the head. Consequently, both jaw adduction and head depression are jointly used to power tooth-digging in F. micklemi. The same mechanism, but with longer digging cycles, and soil being thrown down at smaller gape sizes, was used when digging in harder soil. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Van Wassenbergh, Sam Heindryckx, Stef Adriaens, Dominique |
author_facet |
Van Wassenbergh, Sam Heindryckx, Stef Adriaens, Dominique |
author_sort |
Van Wassenbergh, Sam |
title |
Kinematics of chisel-tooth digging by African mole-rats |
title_short |
Kinematics of chisel-tooth digging by African mole-rats |
title_full |
Kinematics of chisel-tooth digging by African mole-rats |
title_fullStr |
Kinematics of chisel-tooth digging by African mole-rats |
title_full_unstemmed |
Kinematics of chisel-tooth digging by African mole-rats |
title_sort |
kinematics of chisel-tooth digging by african mole-rats |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8542993 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8542993 https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.164061 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8542993/file/8542994 |
genre |
Rattus rattus |
genre_facet |
Rattus rattus |
op_source |
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY ISSN: 0022-0949 ISSN: 1477-9145 |
op_relation |
https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8542993 http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8542993 http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.164061 https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8542993/file/8542994 |
op_rights |
No license (in copyright) info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.164061 |
container_title |
Journal of Experimental Biology |
_version_ |
1768373842767511552 |